'I bleed blue': LaVille alum Nick Amor returns to coach girls basketball
A familiar face to LaVille High School basketball fans will be the new man in charge of the school's girls basketball program.
Nick Amor, a former standout player for the Lancers, has been named as the new coach at his alma mater.
Amor, who played for coach Michael Edison from 2009-13, is the eighth girls coach in school history. Amor replaces Daniel Pleninger, who served as coach for the past three seasons.
"When I first started coaching, I will be honest, my end goal was not to be a head varsity coach," said Amor, a 2013 LaVille graduate. "But as I coached more and more I saw the joy in sharing my knowledge with the younger generation. Then I got a taste of what it was like to be a part of a high school program at Lewis Cass, and that’s when I knew I wanted to pursue a head coaching position at the right school.
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"When we moved back home I knew I wanted to coach in some capacity, because I bleed blue and I want to see all LaVille athletic teams have success. The timing couldn’t have been better. I had a chance to learn from coach Edison (as the LaVille head junior varsity coach) another full year and this time as a coach. Then the position came available for the girls and I knew I wanted it."
Amor scored 883 points while playing for the Lancers, helping lead them to a conference title his junior season. He then attended Indiana State University, where he played basketball for two seasons.
Amor has extensive coaching experience with both girls and boys at several levels from fourth to 12th grade. He spent last season as the JV coach for the LaVille boys team. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach for the Lewis Cass girls team during the 2020-21 season.
Amor steps into a program that has had one winning girls varsity season in the last 10 and two in the last 15 years. The 2021-22 LaVille Lady Hoops team finished with a 10-13 overall record.
"I know that LaVille girls basketball has had its ups and downs," said Amor. "I know that we are due for a sectional as it has been 20 years (2003) and due for a (TCU) Bi-County (Tournament championship) as it has been 30 years (1993). I have shared with the girls that my goals this year are to have a winning season, win (TCU) Bi-County and win the sectional. I think these are very possible but not guaranteed and I look forward to the journey to reaching them. I want there to be excitement around girls basketball at LaVille, and I hope for a community that will rally behind these goals.
According to the new coach, he will not be making any coaching staff changes. Steve Cox will return as the head junior varsity coach, Angie Dunlap as the assistant junior varsity/varsity assistant, and JT Beehler as varsity assistant.
Amor emphasized that he wants to reach out to all of the girls in the LaVille basketball program from kindergarten through 12th grade.
"I want to create a desire and love for the game in LaVille Girls Basketball K-12," Amor stated. "My goal would be that after my tenure at LaVille the girls that I have had the privilege to coach reached their own goals. That when you drive past the parks and driveways in the surrounding communities that our players live in, you see the same number of girls playing in them as the number of boys."
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: New LaVille girls basketball coach is former player Nick Amor
